Given (1) that Ashley Judd isn't actually running for anything, at least not yet, and (2) the ad existing only as an internet thing for Karl Rove to talk about (though it ends with a prominent donation ask, of course), the effort doesn't seem to be too serious. It seems to be primarily a way for Rove to change the subject and make nice-nice with the Republicans who have been circling his building with torches and pitchforks.

Anyway, Rove is now promising more Judd-bashing—I guess he figures targeting people who aren't actually even running for something yet is probably one of the safer things he can do, given that all his other announcements lately have landed butter-side-down—so I guess that will be a thing.

"We are making fun of her," Rove said point-blankly on Fox News. "She is way far out on the left wing of the Democratic Party, which is not very far out left in Kentucky."

I have two theories. Either the asshole rabbit is racist, or the asshole rabbit is a germophobe who didn't want to get cooties because everybody knows that little black kids are gross and dirty.

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The urban battlefield was littered with the spent rounds of violent video games.

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Grifters Gotta Grift 2 - Disgraced Moral Majority evangelical grifter, Indian Casino grifter, and Faith and Freedom Coalition founder RALPH REED—who continuously says that THE KENYAN is waging a "war on religion" and trampling on "religious liberty"—that same Ralphie wants the government to end its "Save America's Treasures Grants" to the National Cathedral because the Cathedral decided to perform same-sex marriages. Um, anyone else see any contradictions with Ralphie's thinking? (Faith and Freedom Coalition)

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The blizzard that struck New England has some Massachusetts Republicans concerned that the storm "could jeopardize the ability of state Rep. Dan Winslow and other GOP candidates to qualify for the ballot in the special election to replace Secretary of State John Kerry," National Journal reports.

"Candidates for the special election must submit 10,000 certified signatures by Feb. 27 to qualify for the April 30 primary. With Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick (D) declaring a state of emergency Friday afternoon and banning cars from driving on the roads, Senate contenders are forced to put a hold on signature collecting until the storm passes."

Notice that a few days off of campaign poses no problem for Democratic candidates. Apparently they're far enough ahead on that count that they can sit out a day or three.

That tells you all you need to know about Republican chances — even if they do manage to get enough signatures.

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The Germany-based supermarket chain Aldi yesterday confirmed that some "beef" products recently pulled from shelves in Britain actually contained as much as 100% horsemeat. Horsemeat has also been found in beef-labeled products in several other British chains.

Aldi has 1500 outlets in the United States and opened their first Manhattan store last year in Harlem's East River Plaza. Aldi is the parent company of Trader Joe's.

The science behind this is clear: Warmer temperatures cause more water to evaporate into the atmosphere, and warmer air holds more water than cooler air. The air's "water-holding capacity," in fact, rises about 7 percent with each Celsius degreeof warming. This results in air that becomes super-saturated with water, often bringing drenching rainfall followed by flooding or – if it is cold enough – heavy and intense snowfall.

A study of 20th century snowstorms, published in the August 2006 Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology – before the big storms of recent years – found that most major snowstorms in the United States occurred during warmer-than-normal years. The authors predicted that "a warmer future climate will generate more winter storms." [...]

It's already happened in recent years. Few people will forget the monster snowstorms that walloped the Atlantic states in 2010, most notably a back-to-back punch only days apart in February that broke records in many major cities and, in Washington, D.C., became known as "Snowmageddon." Rare storms also brought heavy snows to the deep South, including the northwest panhandle of Florida. In fact, by the second week of February, every state but Hawaii had snow on the ground.

The 2010 "Snowmageddon" was the birthplace of my favorite Sean Hannity moment when he pleaded "It's snowing! In winter! Where's the global warming?"

A new Quinnipac poll finds that an astonishing 92% of Americans, including 89% of Republicans, support requiring a background check for all would be gun buyers. Fifty-six percent support banning assault weapons and high capacity magazine clips.

That said, Americans also say they think the National Rifle Association better represents their views than President Obama, 46% to 43%.

Why is this? Because the NRA's tenacious bumper sticker messaging works. It incites the public into contradicting their own positions by misrepresenting what gun control is all about. The far-right did the same thing with Obamacare, to the point where people hated Obamacare, but loved all of the individual aspects of it.